FORMER HOWARD COUNTY BROKER/DEALER
CONVICTED OF THEFT, MISAPPROPRIATION

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr., announced today that a former
securities broker/dealer Kelvin Washington, 44, of 6143 Llanfair Drive,
Columbia, was convicted on charges of theft and misappropriation by a
fiduciary, relating to a power of attorney executed in Kelvin Washington's
name on behalf of his incapacitated father, Herbert Washington, Sr.

According to evidence presented at trial, the money taken from the father's
estate during the period of March 1995 to December 1997, was spent on
gambling and personal items for Kelvin Washington and to pay his credit
card bills, while Washington's elderly father's healthcare bills went
unpaid.

"The elder Mr. Washington worked for over 30 years to amass a savings
on which he could retire," Attorney General Curran said. "Only
to have his son abuse the trust placed in him as power of attorney and
see him squander that savings on himself and his girlfriend."

Howard County Circuit Court Judge Lenora Gelfman remanded Washington
in lieu of $5,000 bail and scheduled sentencing for June 20, when the
state will seek restitution of at least $163,000. Washington faces a maximum
sentence of 20 years in prison and $1,000 in fines.

This case was referred to the Office of the Attorney General by the North
Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, after Mr. Washington's
securities broker/dealer license was suspended in that state. In December
1998, the Securities Commission of Maryland issued an order that Kelvin
Washington cease and desist and be barred from all activities as a securities
broker/dealer in the State of Maryland. This matter has been investigated
by the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Securities Division, and the
Criminal Investigations Division of the Office of the Attorney General.